hobensack



March 27, 1951 T. E. HOBENSACK I APPARATUS FOR GRINDING ORES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 20, 1946 M mm INVENTOR. THOMAS E HOBENSACK ATTOEY March 27, 1951 HOBENSACK 2,546,506

APPARATUS FOR GRINDING ORES Filed May 20, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. THOMAS E. HOBENSACK ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFKCE 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates generally to material reducing or crushing machines, and more particularly to devices of this character for crushing ore and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a material crushing device that is simple in construction and is very rapid, eiTectiVe and efficient in operation.

The device includes an inclined rocking trough into one end of which material is fed. This material is discharged at the other end after being worked on or crushed, by a series of rollers which are connected together in series and which extend longitudinally in the trough.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character, wherein the heavier particles of material being worked on are repeatedly separated and positioned where they are more effectively worked on by the rollers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character for maintaining Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 I of Fig. 1, showing the device in one operative position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the device in another operative position;

Fig. 4' is a longitudinal section of two of the rollers showing the means for connecting the adjacent rollers together;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a view taken on line l---'! of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, the device comprises a frame including a pair of laterally spaced substantially parallel base members I0 and II secured together adjacent their ends by cross pieces i2 and 13. The frame also includes end supports indicated generally at Hi and i5 respectively, and an intermediate support indicated generally at it.

The support is in the general form of an inverted U and comprises depending members or legs I! which are connected together adjacent their upper ends by cross member [8 and are pivoted adjacent their lower ends to the base members l9 and l I respectively. The pivot means for each leg comprises a roller member l9 which may be secured to the respective base members m and l I by any suitable means, not shown.

The adjacent ends of the legs H are provided with arcuate grooves which receive the respective rollers and permit rocking movement of the frame. The support i5 also is in the general form of an inverted U and includes legs 2 i which are connected together adjacent their upper ends by cross member 22. The lower ends or" the legs 2! are provided with longitudinal bores extending from said ends, in which are received the threaded shanks of screws 23 which provide means for raising the left hand end, as shown in Fig. 1, of the trough, for a purpose to be hereinaiter described. The screws 23 are provided with enlarged heads 24 to provide means engageable by a suitable wrench or other instrument, for turning said screws. The screws also include annular extensions 25 which depend from the heads 24 and which engage the adjacent surface of the respective base members Hi and H, said extensions serving to space the head from the adjacent surfaces at said base members. The intermediate support It is of similar cons'truction and includes legs 26 and connecting cross member El adjacent their upper ends. The lower ends of the legs 26 are also provided with longitudinally extending threaded bores which are open at the lower end and which receive screws 28 having heads is", and longitudinal extensions 3d, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

A shallow trough, indicated generally at 3!, is rockingly supported on the supports it, He, and iii. The trough includes a bottom 32, which is in the general cross-sectional shape of a wide V, upturned longitudinally extending sides 33, and a transverse end wall 34, the opposite end of the trough being open.

The meansior rockingly supporting the trough on the supports ii, [5 and it comprises a bearing base 35 secured to each of the cross members it, 2? and 22b any suitable means, such as bolts 36. The base is provided with a central longitudinally extending" recess 37 which is arcuate in shape for reception of the lower portion of a roller 38, and one end of the base is closed, at 39, to provide a thrust bearing for the adjacent end of the roller. It is to be noted that the sides or the base are downwardly inclined at 4b to provide sufilcient space for the adjacent parts of an upper bearing member 4!, which is attached to the bottom of the trough by any suitable means suchas'w'elding or the like, as at Ma. The upper bearing member 4| is also provided with a longitudinal groove of arcuate cross section for reception of the upper portion of the roller 38, and the end of said upper bearing member 4!, opposite the part 39 of the bearing base 35, is provided with an end wall 42 which serves as a thrust bearing for said roller 38. The parts 39 and 42 of the bearing also prevent the roller from being inadvertently displaced.

Means for rocking the trough is provided, and comprises an arm 45 which is secured to the bottom of the trough by any suitable means such as welding or the like, not shown, and which depends beneath said trough. The free end of the arm 45 may be provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes 46 in any of which a laterally turned end portion 4'! of a connecting rod 48 may be secured. As shown, the end portion 4'! of the connecting rod is located in the lower hole 46. By providing a series of such holes 35, said end portion 41 may be variously attached to the arm 45 so that the trough may be given oscillating movements of different magnitudes.

The opposite end of the connecting rod 48 is provided with an oppositely turned portion, indicated at 49, which is operably received in an opening in a wheel 50 secured to a shaft which is supported in a bearing 52 secured in one of the legs 26 of the support I8. The shaft 5! is driven by any suitable means which, as shown, comprises an electric motor 53 which is connected to said shaft through a reduction gear mechanism located in a housing 54. Inasmuch as any conventional reduction gear mechanism may be used, the details of same have not been shown. The reduction gear casing and attached motor are mounted on the adjacent leg 26 by means of a bracket 55 which may be secured to said leg by any suitable means such as bolts or the like, not shown.

Within the trough are a plurality of gravity actuated rollers 51, 58, 59, 69, El and 62. These rollers are disposed longitudinally within the trough and are connected to each other in series by means of flexible connecting means. One of the means for connecting the rollers together is shown in Fig. 4. This means includes a U-shaped link 63, the arms 64 of which are provided with elongated openings 65 in which are received respective screws 66 received in threaded openings provided therefor in the respective adjacent ends of the rollers. The screws 66 have heads 61 which are spaced from the adjacent ends of the respective rollers, and which secure the U-shaped member 63 to said rollers.

If desired, the rollers may have irregular or roughened surfaces. As an example, rollers 51 and 59 are shown as having longitudinally extending, circumferentially spaced ridges, and rollers 58 and 60 are shown as having sharp projections on their surfaces. For some installations one or the other of these arrangements may be desirable, or other forms of surfacing may be used. Rollers BI and 62 are shown as being plain surfaced. The various types of rollers may be variously arranged in the chain or series, although as shown, the rollers adjacent the upper end of the trough have their surfaces roughened or irregularly contoured. It is also pointed out that the rollers may be of various sizes, and hence, of correspondingly varying weight, if a particular installation requires it. As shown, the larger rollers are adjacent the upper end of the trough with subsequent rollers of progressively smaller size. Thus, the heavier rollers work on the incoming material as it is deposited into the trough, while the lighter, subsequent rollers work on the material after it has been partially crushed by those preceding them in the chain.

Means for retaining the series of rollers in operative position in the trough is provided and as shown comprises a frame disposed over the trough. The frame includes end members, indicated generally at 63, and each of the end members is in the general shape of an inverted V, having side pieces 69 and substantially parallel extensions or end portions iii. The lower ends, as shown in Fig. 1, of the portions 74, are reoeivedin sockets provided therefor in the upper ends of the legs I! and 2! of the respective supports I 4 and I5. At the apex of each frame member 63 there is an annular boss ll having an opening therein for reception of the adjacent end of a longitudinally extending rod 12 which may be secured in the respective bosses by means of set screws i3. A lever 14 is pivotally mounted on the rod 72 adjacent the left hand end of the device, as shown in Fig. 1. The lever '14 extends downwardly and its free end is connected to the adjacent end of the roller 51 by means of a flexible cable 75, one end of which is secured to said roller end by means of a bolt or other suitable means, not shown. The opposite end of the cable 15 is passed through an opening in the free end of the lever l4 and is provided with an enlarged head, not shown, which prevents separation of the cable from the lever 14.

The lever 74 is limited in movement relative to the axis of the rod 12 by the boss H of the adjacent frame member 68 and a collar i6 secured to the rod adjacent the side of the lever opposite said boss, said collar being attached to the rod 72 by any suitable means such as a set screw, not shown. The lever 74 is of such length that the arc defined by its free end will be spaced from the upper face of the bottom 32 of the trough.

The lever 14 is provided with a longitudinal extension "H, to the free end of which is secured an end 78 of a spring 19. The opposite end 80 of said spring is so formed as to be attachable to one of a series of screws 8|, screwed into the rod '52 in longitudinally spaced relationship. Thus, the tension of the spring may be varied by attaching the end 86 thereof to the various screws 8!.

The spring 19 tends to pull the free end of the extension '5? to the right, as shown in Fig. 1, and to urge the lower end of the lever 14 in the opposite direction, thus preventing the series of rollers 5'5 to 62 inclusive, from sliding out of the unwalled end of the trough, it being here pointed out that the opposite end of the trough is disposed above said unwalled end.

Material to be worked on by the device may be fed into the upper end of the trough from a hopper 82 which has a spout 83 so positioned that its discharge opening 84 will discharge said material into said upper end of the trough. If desired, a gate or valve 85 may be provided for regulating the size of the opening 84 of the hopper. Any suitable means for supporting the hopper may be provided, and as said support does not constitute any part of the present invention, it is not shown.

Operation When the device is operated by the electric motor 53, the trough is rocked between the position shown in Fig. 2 and the position shown in Fig. 3, and as the trough rocks back and forth, the rollers will roll across the bottom thereof as a result of gravity, crushing the material which is spread over said bottom, and the material as it is crushed and reduced to a relatively fine state, is gradually worked down along the bottom of the trough and is discharged from the open end thereof.

In the present device, when the trough is rocked from one extreme to the other, the particles of material are thrown from one side toward the other. For example, with the trough in the position shown in Fig. 2, the material would be disposed substantially as illustrated. Now as the trough is rocked to the position shown in Fig. 3, the rollers will roll over the material and crush same. When the rollers reach the upturned side 33 along the righthand edge of the trough, as shown in Fig, 3, it will strike said side with sufiicient force to cause the material to the left of the median line of the trough to be thrown or bounced toward the opposite side and the larger particles will be thrown the farthest so that they will lie closer to the rollers. A further result of this action will be to cause the coarser particles to be bounced to the top of the layer of material. Then, when the trough is rocked in the opposite direction, the full weight of the rollers will be exerted on the larger particles for reducing same, and sliming up of the material will be prevented Of course, as the rollers pass over the finer particles adjacent the longitudinal center of the trough, said smaller particles will also be crushed and reduced to still smaller size.

If desired, the trough may be rocked with sufficient rapidity to cause the rollers to rebound from the respective sides 33 when they strike them, and fall on the heavier particles which are thrown to a position closely adjacent said rollers.

As heretofore pointed out, the trough is inclined with the open end lowermost, and the material will gradually work down toward said end and be discharged therefrom. By varying the inclination of the trough by means of the screws 23 and 28, the speed at which the material will pass through the machine may be varied. Such an arrangement is desirable where different types of material are worked on so that the device will properly reduce said material.

I claim as my invention:

In a device of the class described: a shallow trough deepest along its longitudinal center and having upturned side walls, said trough being higher at one end than at the other; means for educing into the trough material to he proce -ed. said material introduced at the higher end or trough; a series of longitudinally extending rollers in the trough; means for flexibly connecting the adjacent enrfs of the rollers to each other; a frame having a part BX" tending over the t 311; a lover adjacent the higher the trough having a rotatable connection with the frame; flexible means connecting the end of the adjacent roller to the free end of the lever; means, including a spring, for urging the free end the lever toward the upper end of the trough; and means for rocking the trough.

THOIWAS HOBENSACK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are or. record in the file oi this'patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

